one thing should be clear for everyone: money remitted to thailand is subject to thai tax. otherwise, it could be considered tax evasion and may be prosecuted ...

what many people do not know is that the law change starting in 2024 was introduced to close a loophole for thai citizens (not foreigners). wealthy thai individuals or companies are already in the tax system, and money transfers are automatically reported to the TRD. according to a newspaper, the money remitted from abroad has decreased significantly since the law was amended ...

5 hours ago, motdaeng said:

personally, i would not be surprised if, with the help of ai and all the data exchange and regulations, the existing tax law could and will be enforced ... for thais and for foreigners ... time will tell ...

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

according to a newspaper, the money remitted from abroad has decreased significantly since the law was amended ...

You are already seeing the consequences of such tax rules (because of fear of enforcement) although it's not being enforced.

Can you imagine further if tax law is strictly enforced? No more remittance above tax threshold.

Wealthy people - anywhere - do not pay 35% tax on their income/capital. Only the middle-class, who's not able to financially structure in order to mitigate their tax contribution, would be milked.

On 3/28/2026 at 11:58 AM, jojothai said:

I note your post and its important for anybody remitting government state pensions based on social security payments.
However, i do not understand it because pensions are taxable in Thailand.
I searched on Google and got the following:

Thailand generally does not tax foreign social security pensions, but it may tax private or occupational pensions if you are a tax resident (living there 180+ days) and bring the income in. Public/government pensions are typically exempt, while 5% social security contributions from salary are tax-deductible.

Key points regarding Thailand pension taxation:

Foreign Social Security/Public Pensions: Often tax-exempt or only taxable in the country of origin due to treaties (e.g., U.S.-Thailand treaty).

Private/Overseas Pensions: If you are a tax resident (180+ days), income brought into Thailand may be taxable, but double taxation agreements might apply.

Domestic Thai Pension: Contributions to the Thai Social Security Office (SSO) are deducted from salary before tax, and the old-age pension can be taxable, though often falls below the threshold.

These statements imply that its only foreign social security pensions due to treaties.
In Thailand the old age pension based on social security contributions is not tax exempt.
I presume the Australia DTA covers it and confirms your post.
I will be checking the UK DTA and some other DTA's like australia to check thec differences.

As I stated, the advice I received from the Thai Revenue Office in 2025 and confirmed again recently ( and remember I ONLY posted in relation to the Australian Aged pension ) was that as a social security payment it is exempt from taxation here in Thailand. The supervisor I was speaking with stated this exemption applied under Thai tax law (social security payments are exempt ) and she also checked the aussie DTA (she quoted section 18 ) and her interpretation of that was that ONLY personal pensions ( from personal and govt superannuation funds - viz. employee retirement savings ) were taxable under both the DTA & Thai tax law.

I can only post the information I have received, and as I've received the exact same information in both 2025 & 2026 I have to believe that this information is correct. When these changes in the interpretation of tax laws started occurring, I telephoned a tax accountant in Melbourne, who specialised in DTA's, and he also stated that the aussie aged pension was not taxable in Thailand because it was a social security payment, and I posted in this forum that advice shortly after receiving it back in 2024. That's 2 different sources that have given the same information, one here in Thailand (Revenue Office) and a tax accountant back Oz.

I'm pretty comfortable in accepting that information as being correct as far as aussies are concerned. It's up to other nationalities to ascertain how these changes in interpretation and implementation of the Thai tax laws apply to them. Check if you have a DTA and read it thoroughly so you can get some understanding of it. Also there's absolutely no reason why individuals cannot make their own enquiries with their local Revenue Office to ascertain how these changes affect them. Last year I was prepared to declare my aussie aged pension as income in my 2025 tax return, but before I included it in the return I asked the question, which resulted in my district revenue office telephoning the provincial office who telephoned head office in Bangkok to ascertain the situation. The response last year and again this year was favourable for me, and other others here more than 180 days who receive the aussie aged pension.

On 3/28/2026 at 2:05 PM, topt said:

I will save you the trouble. The UK state pension is specifically not mentioned in the DTA between the UK and Thailand.

The best reference for it is in the digest

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b05425fed915d1317445ed2/DT_Digest_April_2018.pdf

Page 34, Thailand, go to the far right and note 4 -

"Treaty does not include an article dealing with DT-Company Non-Government pensions. Also, no relief for State Pension or ‘trivial commutation lump sum"

Thanks, having looked at the DTA already. As you say there is no relief relating to state pensions as I previously knew.
I have checked any potential reference to social security payments and there is none.

5 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

As I stated, the advice I received from the Thai Revenue Office in 2025 and confirmed again recently ( and remember I ONLY posted in relation to the Australian Aged pension ) was that as a social security payment it is exempt from taxation here in Thailand. The supervisor I was speaking with stated this exemption applied under Thai tax law (social security payments are exempt ) and she also checked the aussie DTA (she quoted section 18 ) and her interpretation of that was that ONLY personal pensions ( from personal and govt superannuation funds - viz. employee retirement savings ) were taxable under both the DTA & Thai tax law.

I can only post the information I have received, and as I've received the exact same information in both 2025 & 2026 I have to believe that this information is correct. When these changes in the interpretation of tax laws started occurring, I telephoned a tax accountant in Melbourne, who specialised in DTA's, and he also stated that the aussie aged pension was not taxable in Thailand because it was a social security payment, and I posted in this forum that advice shortly after receiving it back in 2024. That's 2 different sources that have given the same information, one here in Thailand (Revenue Office) and a tax accountant back Oz.

I'm pretty comfortable in accepting that information as being correct as far as aussies are concerned. It's up to other nationalities to ascertain how these changes in interpretation and implementation of the Thai tax laws apply to them. Check if you have a DTA and read it thoroughly so you can get some understanding of it. Also there's absolutely no reason why individuals cannot make their own enquiries with their local Revenue Office to ascertain how these changes affect them. Last year I was prepared to declare my aussie aged pension as income in my 2025 tax return, but before I included it in the return I asked the question, which resulted in my district revenue office telephoning the provincial office who telephoned head office in Bangkok to ascertain the situation. The response last year and again this year was favourable for me, and other others here more than 180 days who receive the aussie aged pension.

Understood thanks. Go with the flow.
There is nothing in the UK / OZ DTA's to cover this.
Expats could consider this fantastic advice,
They are in effect saying that pension income based on social security contributions are not regarded as taxable income in Thailand,
however i cannot find anything to back up the intertpretation that you have been given.

Others could point out the same if necessary and see what response they get, if they want to take the chance.
I personally do not remit my UK state pension to Thailand.

I was going too add more comment relating to what i find online online for taxation of thai pensions. However it does not change matters.

It does not affect me, its up to individuals to consider their circumstances.

Best leave this matter to rest there without the need for further discussion.

14 hours ago, motdaeng said:

thanks for a well written post. just because the tax law for remitted money is not being enforced right now, it does not mean that transferring money (after 2024) automatically becomes legal, either now or in the future ... (probably some russians and others want care about any laws in thailand anyway ...)

personally, i would not be surprised if, with the help of ai and all the data exchange and regulations, the existing tax law could and will be enforced ... for thais and for foreigners ... time will tell ...

It's not being enforced now, it has never been enforced in the past, and there is nothing concrete to suggest it will be enforced in the future.

The issue is the whole idea of taxing "remittances" is deeply flawed and practically unenforceable, which is why the TRD has never enforced it.

Taxing income earnt in a country seems straightforward enough.

Taxing income earnt in another country when it is sent to Thailand, far from straightforward. Even the definition of remitted itself is unclear. This is why almost no countries have this type of taxation, and Thailand does not enforce it.

Imagine the actual effort required to discern whether a single transfer ( billions of single transfers occurring every year), to 1 bank account( forget any other method of remittance being anywhere near auditable) is a taxable remittance?

No, it's pre 2024 "savings"

No, it's a gift.

No, it's a non assessable social security payment

No, it's a remittance of original capital

No, it's a remittance of the proceeds of the sale of my car, or my watch

No, it's a remittance of the sale of my property on which I did not make a profit

No, it's a loan

No, it's not a remittance at all, it's a credit card payment

No, it's not a remittance to me at all, it's a payment to someone else

No, it's not a remittance at all, it's cash withdrawn and I took it back to another country

There are probably a lot more exemptions and exceptions to add above, but I think you can see the picture.

As you say, time will tell. I think much more likely is a regulation change, than any effort to enforce an completely unworkable taxation structure.

3 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

It's not being enforced now, it has never been enforced in the past, and there is nothing concrete to suggest it will be enforced in the future.

your statement is probably correct for tax residents who do not file a tax return and do not have a tax number, whether they are thai or foreign ...

however, for tax residents who are already registered in the tax system and file a tax return, it seems that the new tax law is already inforced ...

i would be very surprised if any government wanted to let go this source of revenue ... but TIT, everything is possible ...

21 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

No, it's a remittance of the proceeds of the sale of my car, or my watch

No, it's a remittance of the sale of my property on which I did not make a profit

No, it's a loan

No, it's not a remittance at all, it's a credit card payment

No, it's not a remittance to me at all, it's a payment to someone else

No, it's not a remittance at all, it's cash withdrawn and I took it back to another country

Other than possibly the loan you could make an argument that all the others are not exceptions or exempt if they are all being remitted from abroad.

To be clear I am not disagreeing with your general drift but with some of the specifics you mention as they could be misleading to some readers.

30 minutes ago, topt said:

Other than possibly the loan you could make an argument that all the others are not exceptions or exempt if they are all being remitted from abroad.

To be clear I am not disagreeing with your general drift but with some of the specifics you mention as they could be misleading to some readers.

I'd like to see that argument detailed...?

Did you not catch the presentation where a TRD official stated proceeds from a sale of your watch was not taxable?

You think if you sell a car in a foreign country and remit the proceeds to Thailand you'd declare it - as what exactly?

In what world is remitting original capital( e.g. a property or stock sale with no capital gain) taxable?

Do you seriously think any individual has ever paid Thai tax on funds remitted directly to a 3rd party to buy a car, or a property? Imagine the media headlines when a Condo is bought for 10M THB to Sansiri, and 3M THB extra to the TRD!!!

Do you seriously think any individual has ever paid Thai tax on a (foreign) credit card payment, or declared cash they withdrew in Thailand but didn't spend there?

I await your report of any such occurences with interest.

1 hour ago, anrcaccount said:

I await your report of any such occurences with interest.

You have completely missed the point of my reply..........

Suffice to say that any remittance, unless meeting certain criteria, is potentially assessable.

If you disagree with that then we can agree to disagree as I have no interest in going over the arguments that were discussed ad nauseam in many of the original and follow up tax threads in which, from memory, you were an active participant. If my memory is faulty on that then apologies.

23 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

As you say, time will tell. I think much more likely is a regulation change, than any effort to enforce an completely unworkable taxation structure.

I agree. I think the point some people are missing is some monies are not income at all, (either earned or passive). For example, cash in a savings acct, a bank loan, a CC cash advance, proceeds from the sale of some assets; like a vehicle, or the sale of a house (with no capital gains), money that was a gift, or money that was inherited, those types of things are not income in my home country, so why would they be considered income in Thailand if remitted. I think one has to differentiate between what is truly income and what is not income when they do their self-assessment, and go from there. That's just my opinion for what it's worth.

5 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

Imagine the media headlines when a Condo is bought for 10M THB to Sansiri, and 3M THB extra to the TRD!!!

Thai media would be very happy